Assignment 3- Nicole Loy

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, to be evil is to be "morally reprehensible." But what are our morals?  To determine whether one is evil, you must first determine what the morals are that you are judging them by. That is not such an easy task, as every day we fight over which morals we should live by. Part of America's conflict with the Middle East is over whether it is right to westernize or whether traditional values are best.
These morals determine what we individually define good and evil as and, therefore, often lead us into a war against others that don't define them in the same way as us. There is absolutely a battle against good and evil, but each society defines what is good and what is evil differently. To most Americans, killing others and yourself to prove loyalty to your faith and morals is considered evil. To people from the Middle East, it is evil to have separation between church and state.
Once you've joined a group that determines what good and evil is to them, it is probable that you will soon want to eliminate any ideas that go against yours. However, you cannot eliminate good or evil as these are beliefs, and while you may be able to diminish them, you can never completely eliminate them. There is always someone that is steadfast to even the oddest of beliefs.
Good and evil are always evolving. Everyday people change their opinions as to which things go with which end of the spectrum. At the same time, someone can perform an act that would be considered evil by some, yet do it for the right reasons. Some people might have considered WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, to be evil, as he released national secrets, but he did it for the right reasons, at least in their purest form. He wanted the public to know what their government is doing and be able to have freedom of information. While he may have gone too far in the hope of achieving that goal, he had good intentions. So does that make him evil? Or does that make him good? Or perhaps it put him in a grey area in-between?  Good and evil mean different things to different people, so that inevitably means there will be a grey area that is formed. There is no definitive good or evil. There is only your belief from your perspective.